Brussels, 08/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Growth which is “fertile in terms of jobs”, budgetary rigour as a priority, but without excessive austerity, a genuine digital single market and an energy union, and a Union which defends its own fundamental values.
It was with these priorities that Jean-Claude Juncker went before the MEPs of the ALDE on Tuesday evening, for a question-and-answer session of two hours. Highly anticipated by the Belgian leader Guy Verhofstadt in particular, who expects Juncker to impose initiatives on the Council and create a “break with the past”, the Luxembourger took with him a few arguments which are dear to the Liberals, on such matters as tax competition, which he accepts, as long as it is not “unfair”, and also praised the work done by Olli Rehn during the eurozone crisis, “an aeroplane that needed repairing mid-flight”. Juncker also pledged to apply a European investment policy and is shortly to meet the president of the European Investment Bank to this end, to “see how we can get the machine up and running again”. In another argument which is likely to get the Liberals onside, Juncker pledged that “we need to de-bureaucratise Europe”, and go further in the exercise of revising the rules. EUROPE will return to this. (SP)